The Enemy Within
by TheFABFive2015
Summary: TAG 2015. The first of four stories, which will each cover these final four episodes. This follows on from Chain Of Command, and as the family sleeps, one troubled brother still has an awful lot to think about.


WOW! Yes, that last episode really deserves a capital letter WOW! I don't know about you, but I was actually cheering out loud at the end. Go Team Tracy!

That final scene, though. The GDF breached by its most dangerous enemy. Never mind Doctor Who and the Daleks - _that's_ what sent me behind the sofa! And since it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, so this tag to Chain Of Command will be the start of my own mini series.

All will be stories in their own right, but also connected to whatever happens in these last few episodes. I get the feeling they're going to be one hell of a ride!

Enjoy!

* * *

The Enemy Within

So, then. Another day of saving the day. No lives lost, one of their greatest allies back in command, and every member of his family safely home. What his father would have called a good day at the office, before ordering them all to bed.

All of which begged the question that kept tumbling through Scott's mind. With all these reasons to be gratefully satisfied, why the hell couldn't he sleep? Why had he been so inexplicably unsettled that he'd come back here, to the now barely lit den? Oh, and yeah - like reminding himself of the time would help him much either.

00:47. Five minutes since he'd last looked. And still his thoughts continued to churn, like waves on a storm-tossed sea. Not even the den's familiar comfort stood a chance in hell of settling them. And glancing across at his father's desk? To let that trigger all the pain of his absence?

"Oh, yeah, Scooter... like _that_ ' _s_ gonna help."

Still sure that he was alone, he wasn't expecting any reply, so when one _did_ come -

"You know, Colonel Casey was right. He'd have been damn proud of you today."

\- well, yes, his reaction wasn't as welcoming as it might have been.

" _Virgil_? What the he-?"

Halfway through that question, Scott saw the telltale lift of an eyebrow - and wisely moved onto friendlier ground.

"I - I mean, I thought you'd gone to bed."

"Yeah, I thought you had too."

Unfazed by his brother's reaction, Virgil still kept subtly assessing eyes upon him as he changed direction from the stairs down to the kitchen, to where his brother stood beside his favourite couch.

The plan had been for a late night raid on Penelope's latest shipment of cookies, but... well, aside from having an unexpected witness, those midnight munchies would need to wait.

Because - yes, they'd all had one hell of a day. Long enough, and stressful enough, for them all to welcome an early night. As always, though, Scott had caught the worst of it. And, yes - there'd been several times when the family volcano had come dangerously close to erupting.

With more than just cause, too, as one of their most trusted allies had been turned into a nearly disastrous enemy. So for him to rise above it all, to keep his head together through such relentless provocation - hell, yes, the family peacemaker had every right to be proud of him.

As ever, though, it wasn't his own welfare that Scott was still fretting about, but that of his brothers. Or, more specifically, the ones who _weren't_ mother hens in disguise.

"Gordon and Alan?"

"Oh, they're still all tucked up... and _really_ sending the cows home," Virgil grinned, folding himself onto the couch, and watching his brother all the way as Scott settled more wearily beside him.

Not close enough, though, for their usual companionable contact, and... uh-oh.

Yes, from all those times when there'd been the same distance between them, Virgil's 'Scooter Sense' shifted from All Good Green to Amber Alert. From the same years of practice, he also knew just the way to find out why.

"So, then... why isn't Farmer Scott doing the same?"

That earned him a tired smile. A more promising sign. Two equally tired words, though? Not so much.

"Can't sleep."

 _Damn_. If his 'Scooter Sense' hadn't kicked in before, it surely did now. Nudged it a bit closer to that Run For Cover Red. Even with the physical gap between them, Virgil could still feel the tension beside him. A whole damn storm of it, radiating out of Scott's body like a humanised lamp.

If he let his concern show too much, though, Virgil knew his brother would clam up. Retreat further into a brooding silence that would make coaxing him into opening up even harder. So, instead, he kept his response to just one, calmly casual word.

"Oh?"

Such a simple thing for him to say - but Scott's reaction to it was everything he'd hoped for. The shift of weight beside him, as his brother slid into the space between them. Shoulders touched first, then arm-sides and knees - all making that same, crucial contact.

The best way that Virgil had ever found to coax a troubled brother into talking. Only when he'd fully settled, though, did _this_ troubled brother start to do so.

"I just can't stop thinking about Janus... not so much from everything he tried to do against us, or all those lives he put at risk, but... Virgil, you know as well as I do who he was working for... I mean, _really_ working for, and... God, Virg, if Parker hadn't caught him out over his credentials..."

"...we'd all be in real serious trouble."

Finishing that thought just as quietly, Virgil then drew his brother into a hug that both of them now needed. Resting his cheek on top of Scott's head, he let more thoughts drift in to replace it. Yes, trust Scott to dwell on the fear that they all shared, but that only he could fully understand. As the only one of them with a military background - yes, he'd know just how serious this breach was.

The Global Defence Force, the best security unit in the world, and also one of their greatest allies, had been compromised. And if Scott had been rattled by that, then its commanding officer had hit the proverbial roof.

In all the years they'd known her, he had never, _ever_ , seen Val Casey so angry. Okay, so the engineer in him had known it was structurally impossible, but... damn, she'd been mad enough to launch clear through it. Awaiting their own debrief outside her office, he'd almost seen its walls shaking as she'd laid into the hapless officers inside it.

"...and why the hell weren't his credentials checked, as they _should_ have been?"

"...oh yes, Lieutenant, you're absolutely right... the Royal Fusiliers _is_ a British regiment, but that's _no_ excuse..."

"...if not for Parker's intervention, a highly dangerous impostor would have had our resources at his absolute mercy, and _that_ is inexcusable..."

"...from now on, I want _every_ military unit in the world added to our database... this breach in our security _cannot_ , and _will not_ , happen again... is that clear?!"

Watching three thoroughly carpeted officers skulk past them, he and Scott had actually winced. Odd, though, that the one in charge of her vetting team had glanced back at them, and... damn it, almost seemed to _smile_. Hardly the reaction you'd expect from someone who'd just had his backside so thoroughly tanned.

Still, he'd left that for Colonel Casey to sort out. Telling tales had never been his way, he'd been brought up with greater morals than that, but... well, this time he'd been bothered enough to make an exception.

 _'He was what_?! _Well_ , _believe me_ , _Virgil_... _he_ _won_ ' _t_ _be smiling by the time I've_ finished _with him_.'

No, he had a still troubled brother to sort out instead. And as that Lieutenant who'd left the GDF so dangerously exposed must know too now, there was absolutely nothing funny about that.

Setting his hands on Scott's shoulders, he then gently turned them, until his brother's head had to turn away too, from what he'd been staring at.

"Look, Scott, I know today tested us beyond our limits... and yeah, I know the GDF was compromised too, but... well, you heard what Colonel Casey told us in debrief... in return for her protection and a new identity, Janus has already agreed to tell her all he knows."

Aha! An eyebrow had lifted, followed by the hint of a smile. And, to his own amusement, Virgil already knew what was coming.

"Yeah, you... uh, _really_ freaked him out there."

Aaaand - busted! Guilty, as charged. And what kind of justly aggrieved citizen would he be, if he didn't try to defend himself?

"Hey, all I did was glare at him! I mean, you saw what he did... damn burn marks, it's gonna take me _hours_ to repair them, and... yeah, he's damn lucky he just got zapped."

Damn straight. Yes, no-one, but _no-one_ , lasered his pride and joy without the wrath of Virgil Tracy raining down on them. As his brothers were forever teasing him, God help _anyone_ who dared to as much as scratch the paint. And somewhere in London, one of its pigeons would never know how close it had come to being turned into that night's dinner.

All for them to enjoy another time, though - because those shadows that Virgil could see still in his brother's eyes told him that now wasn't it. So time for calming little brother to do what calming little brother did best.

"Hey, you heard what Colonel Casey told us before we left... anything that Janus can tell her about The Hood can only help her to find him, and bring him in. And the holo-scanners that Brains and Kayo have set up at their HQ will make sure The Hood can't get past them again."

All well and good for him to say, of course - right until that last word. Because - yes, there it was. That one little word that now left Virgil as worried as his brother.

 _Again_. Reminding them both that a far deadlier enemy than Martin Janus had managed to breach the GDF's toughest defences. As one dazed and shaken Lieutenant had tried to explain to them, coming face to face with your leering twin left you powerless to defend yourself.

All of which sounded terrifyingly familiar. Captain Hansen. Hector Ambrow. Professor Moffatt. Lieutenant Meddings. All innocent pawns in whatever sick plan that a ruthless, amoral maniac had in mind.

And, most alarming of all, his latest victim had no idea on how he'd stolen his identity. Or when.

Yes, even without his brother's military training, Virgil knew the threat that he, and every other member of their family now faced. How the hell could you fight an enemy who could use any one of countless faces to conceal his own?

So yes. He, too, fell silent now. An increasingly uncomfortable silence, that threatened to open up another rift between them as Scott's eyes settled back on their father's desk.

From the moment he woke up, to the moment he finally slept, his disappearance haunted every one of his thoughts. And that anger, that fear, that helplessness, now filled every one of his softly choked words.

"I know, Virg... I know all of that, but... Virgil, what if all that's come too late? What if The Hood's done to the GDF what he did to Delta Fifteen? What if he's already done what he needs to do, to... to do to us what he did to Dad?"

It was the tiredness talking. Virgil knew it was purely the tiredness, and the fear, and the helplessness, and the anger, and the threat from a ruthless enemy, that was threatening to quash his brother's indomitable spirit.

Well, to hell with that. And if their leader wasn't quite strong enough to rally the troops, then his ever faithful lieutenant would just need to do it instead.

"Then we fight him, Scott... we learn _everything_ that Kayo can teach us to defend ourselves... we give Brains everything _he_ needs to give _everything_ better defences... not just the island and the Thunderbirds, but us too... and most of all, Scott, we fight him with all the strength and courage that Dad taught us... with all the strength and courage that _you_ led us with today."

In terms of a cheering pep talk - yeah, not bad. But... no. Still not quite enough. Time for another hug, while he stressed what had to be the clinching point.

"Scott, you're exhausted... you're letting that bastard get into your head, and... come on, Scooter, you _can't_ let him do that... because the second he starts to mess with your mind..."

"...we are all totally and utterly screwed," Scott finished for him, through a smile that held more grimness than humour.

Gradually, though, the shadows in his eyes began to disperse. Spirit, and strength, and just pure bloody mindedness swept back to take their place. By the time he'd sat up and squared his shoulders, the transformation was complete. The fearless leader of International Rescue was back in business.

For Virgil, too, it was a welcome sight - enough for him to treat his brother to his brand new nickname.

"Hey, Captain Kickass... welcome back."

Grinning too now, Scott gladly accepted the hand that now hauled him to his feet. Just as he savoured the arm that had already slid around his shoulders. As it always had, and as it always would, it gave him all of Virgil's strength and courage when he needed it the most. Drawing on such encouraging comfort - yes, he'd sleep now.

By the time they reached his room, his eyes felt like lead, and Virgil's shoulder was a real comfy pillow. If not for greater practicalities, he'd have happily stayed there all night. When it came to comforting hugs to get a fretful brother to sleep, Virgil was its timeless master.

Yet even when he finally settled, he still stirred through frettish dreams. Everywhere he turned, through a surreal, shadowy world, he saw the same eyes. Eyes that glowed and glittered with malice. A gloating leer that brought him bolt upright - wide awake again, and shaking in helpless dread.

" _You really think you can keep them all safe from me_ , _Scott_? _Aaah_ , _yes_... _your father thought that too... and look what happened to him_."


End file.
